Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (with Whole Grains and Less Sugar)

I love to have a batch of muffins in the fridge or freezer during the week for fast breakfasts and snacks, so whenever I have overripe bananas, I turn them in a batch of these super yummy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins!

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Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins, which simply mix together in a bowl, are made with highly nutritious (and naturally gluten-free) buckwheat flour and get their sweetness primarily from ripe bananas. There’s a bit of added sweetener in the mix and just enough dark chocolate to make these feel like a treat, but they are balanced by the other ingredient to ensure balanced energy for your little ones. My kids LOVE these for a breakfast treat!

Ingredients in Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins have flour (buckwheat or whole wheat), cinnamon, ground flaxseed, sugar, chocolate chips, baking powder, vanilla extract, milk (dairy or nondairy), peanut butter (or regular melted butter in the case of a nut allergy), eggs, and ripe bananas. I did my best to make the majority of the ingredients ones you may already have in the house so you can get right to baking.

Do I have to add the sugar?

Nope! If you’d rather let the sweetness in these muffins come entirely from the banana and the small amount of chocolate chips, you can totally do that. My husband prefers his baked goods sweeter, so having a little sugar in these ensures that everyone in my house likes them. (There’s just about 5 grams added sugar in each of these muffins, so they are still on the much healthier end of things!)

How to Make Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins Step-by-Step

Here’s a look at the easy process involved in making this recipe. Since everything just needs to be stirred together, this is a great one to make together with the kids.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly and the edges are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Make-Ahead Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

We like these both slightly warm and cold out of the fridge for days after they are made, and they are particularly yummy paired with a smear of nut butter and milk. (Or coffee, if that’s more your mom speed!) And they freeze well too, which makes them a nice make-ahead option for busier days ahead.

How do I freeze these muffins?

Simply let them cool and store in a zip top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 3 months. Warm from frozen in the microwave in 15 second increments or thaw at room temp or in the fridge.

Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I know that it can be hard to bake gluten-free baked goods that the entire family will want to eat, but these definitely fit the bill. They’re moist and sweet, and are so good when served alongside coffee or milk. I use buckwheat flour, which is naturally gluten-free and also very nutritious with ample fiber and protein. It has a mild flavor too. (You can use whole wheat flour if you prefer.)

Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Description

These muffins are naturally gluten-free (buckwheat doesn’t contain gluten). It’s a nice ingredient for little ones because it creates a texture similar to wheat flour, but it has more vitamins and fiber. You can use whole wheat flour instead of the buckwheat if desired.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling about 2/3 full. Each muffin cup will have about 1/4 cup batter. Top with additional chocolate chips if desired.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out cleanly and the edges are golden brown. Let cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then run a paring knife around the edges to help remove the muffins. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

These can be made nut-free if you use butter instead of peanut butter.

And raisins or dried cranberries are a nice option if you’d rather not use chocolate.

These muffins are so delicious, full of flavor, very moist and rich in banana and chocolate.
Assembly instructions are very straightforward so much so that my 2.5 year old thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of measuring, dumping, stirring and even ladling the mixture (very closely supervised and assisted etc) .
It just doesn’t get any better than that.

I did substitute 1:1 ratio of regular flour as I don’t have buckwheat on hand and added a few extra chocolate chips, mostly that was my helper’s idea. These baked up nicely in a mini muffin pan for 10-12 minutes.
We’ll be trying more of your recipes soon!

Hi Amy, thanks so much for sharing this. I only had 1 banana so I halved the recipe and baked them in mini muffin tins in a convection oven at 350 degrees. for 13 min They made 24 nice moist little snacks for my 2yr old. I have a sweet tooth so would probably add a touch more sugar or honey if I was making them just for me.

Hello… I just made these tonight and they smell delicious! Can’t wait for my 13 month old son to try one tomorrow! Can these be kept in the freezer like your blueberry banana muffins (which my son loves by the way)?

They can absolutely be frozen. Store in a zip top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible and defrost in 10 second increments in the microwave or leave at room temperature to thaw. I hope he enjoys them!

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